Abandon the Dark by Marta Perry

Lainey heads back to Deer Run to help take care of her Aunt Rebecca. The longer Lainey is in Deer Run, the more she wants to stay and rebuild her life. When Halloween pranks turn into something more menacing, Lainey thinks her past mistakes have come back to haunt her. Should she run like she has always done or does she stay because of her promise to Aunt Rebecca?

I was intrigued by the question in the book: "What makes one thing stay in your memory and another fade?" In this case, it was referring to dreams and sleepwalking, but it got me thinking, really, how do you remember some things and not others. Obviously, some tragic events, losses, super happy moments, you'll remember fairly easy, but what about all the other events. What makes us remember one over the other? And when two people share the same moment, why does one remember and the other forgets? I found this very thought provoking.

My only downside to this book was my annoyance with Jake, which shows what a great author Marta is! I was so annoyed by his judgmental attitude! I mean, he had just met her or at least not seen her in 20 years, so what does he even know about her? It seemed as though any time Lainey did something, Jake immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was just a city girl and always moved from one big city to another. He didn't feel that she could handle being her aunt's power of attorney, because she didn't know enough about Deer Run and she'd probably make wrong decisions. I just wanted to reach into the book and shake him while yelling, "QUIT BEING SO JUDGMENTAL!" Grrrrr....great writing Marta!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, despite reading it out of order. It was nice to put all the puzzle pieces together. I really enjoyed Lainey's struggle to continue to do what she has always done in her past or to not be run off by fear and keep her promise to her Aunt Rebecca. As humans, it sometimes is easier to just do what we've always done. The tough thing is to do what we're not used to doing.

I was graciously provided a free digital copy of this book from Harlequin MIRA in partnership with NetGalley to review it. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.